As you take the taxing, uphill walk from Liverpool city centre to Goodison Park, past the Georgian tower on Everton's crest, you are rewarded with a view that is a perfect metaphor for the club in 2024.
Peaking over the trees to the right is Everton's beautiful but decaying current stadium, soon to mark 133 years since its first game. And then turn your head left towards the Mersey and you cannot miss their swanky, gleaming new home at Bramley-Moore Dock.
The scene is apt as we head into the Toffees' final season at the Grand Old Lady. This is a mistreated club where time has stood still – certainly off the pitch with a carousel of chaos at board level in recent years – but one for whom a brighter future awaits on the horizon.
On this particular morning there are blue skies but, still, gloomy clouds often congregate above the stunning new docklands stadium. While there are green shoots of positivity – which we will come on to – Everton are still the Premier League's most uncertain club.
There is no uncertainty about the past. The history books show that this storied old stadium, which begins its final season against Brighton on Saturday, has boasted nine title-winning teams, seen the FA Cup paraded five times and the European Cup-winners' Cup once, during that glorious mid-80s Blues revival under Howard Kendall.
Everton are preparing to start their final season at Goodison Park - their home for nearly 133 years
They will move into their swanky, gleaming new home at Bramley-Moore Dock next year
Sean Dyche is the man that will lead Everton into the season which kicks off against Brighton
The Holy Trinity of Kendall, Colin Harvey and Alan Ball pulled the strings in midfield here for Harry Catterick's elegant champions in 1970 and well before that the incomparable Dixie Dean thrilled Goodison, framed by those iconic Archibald Leach designs, in the 1927-28 season by plundering a record 60 league goals.
And not to forget, Pele and Eusebio both strutted their stuff in L4 during England's 1966 World Cup. If you know your history.
As for the present, it took just four questions of Sean Dyche's first press conference of the season for him to be asked about non-footballing matters. Fair play to the manager, his Thursday surgeries at Finch Farm are mostly to talk about finances rather than the classic 'any team news, Sean?'.
Although it is a bit of a dull conversation, it is important. Fans are right to demand answers to the questions that have kept them up at night in recent years. The club are still not fully over the hill with financial problems that caused a conflict with the Premier League.
Two points deductions last season were safely negotiated thanks to Dyche's steady leadership – and director of football Kevin Thelwell's canny transfer strategy – but owner Farhad Moshiri's attempts to sell the club still persist.
When early-summer news emerged that Dan Friedkin had entered into an exclusivity agreement to buy the Toffees, fans' sighs of relief could be heard all the way to Moshiri's ivory towers in Monaco. He rarely attends Everton games these days, probably due to fears over fan reaction.
Roma owner Friedkin was billed as the saviour, the Hollywood producer and stunt pilot who personally flew Romelu Lukaku into the Italian capital when he signed him. He steered a Spitfire in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk. But for this daredevil, buying Everton was a risk too far.
The club remains in the lurch in that sense, with Friedkin following controversial 777 Partners in seeing a deal collapse. Crystal Palace owner John Textor is the latest front-runner but first he must sell his 45 per cent stake in the Selhurst Park club. Any deal is easier said than done.
Crystal Palace owner John Textor is the latest front-runner to take over the running of Everton
Reports suggest that Everton face a third points deduction in the Premier League this season
Reports have suggested Everton face a third points deduction this season but sources close to the club maintain they have steered clear of any further punishment due to smart dealings at the start of this summer's transfer window.
Lewis Dobbin and Ben Godfrey were sold for a cumulative £25million prior to the June 30 accounting deadline, while the £50m departure of Amadou Onana to Aston Villa has led them into a more stable position. Pre-summer reports warning of a 'fire sale' were mere scaremongering.
So while those dark clouds of negativity and uncertainty still loom, there are reasons to be cheerful ahead of the new season. Keeping Jarrad Branthwaite – touch wood, Evertonians – is better than any new signing this summer.
Manchester United tried and failed with two offers that were laughed at by the top brass at Everton HQ. They noted the premium for top, young defenders in 2024 and slapped a £75m valuation on the defender. United's best bid was £45m plus add-ons.
Everton did not think twice about rejecting those approaches, which only reiterates the club's confidence in terms of short-term financial stability. Five new faces have also joined – and all have flourished in pre-season.
Tim Iroegbunam was the first as he signed from Aston Villa and the 21-year-old midfielder is so far filling the shoes of Onana and looking a bargain, while Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom will give fans a reason to leap out of their wooden seats at Goodison this season.
'He's a raw talent as you'll see in YouTube videos… there's a lot of people who can do that with the ball, but they can't be a professional footballer,' Paul Heckingbottom, Ndiaye's former manager at Sheffield United, tells Mail Sport. 'Dychey will love him. Everton fans will love him.'
Another new boy is Irish defender Jake O'Brien – captain Seamus Coleman played a huge role in tempting him to join – after his move from Lyon. The former Crystal Palace kid, at 6ft 4in a typical Dychian defender, also played hurling and boxing as a youngster.
Dyche admitted on Thursday it is unlikely that Everton will do any more business this summer. While the five new faces have all added something fresh, it does feel like they are slightly undercooked in some areas.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has finally fixed his fitness issues that have hampered his last two years
Expected goals statistics suggest Everton should have won 14 more points than they did last season
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has finally fixed his fitness issues that saw him start less than half of the games in the two seasons that preceded the one just gone. But goals have been few and far between despite good performances – and his understudy Beto managed just five last term.
Feel free to dismiss the expected goals (xG) statistics but, based on the amount of chances created last term, the boffins calculated that Everton should have won 14 more points than they did (not accounting for points deductions). Turning quality chances into goals was a thorn.
Calvert-Lewin's future is up in the air. A new deal has been on the table for some time but the 27-year-old is mulling over his options. Although Ndiaye and Lindstrom should add goals from out wide or No 10, it feels like the lack of a prolific forward is still Everton's main concern.
It is also a possibility that Calvert-Lewin leaves this month – though that is unlikely. Asked about this, Dyche said: 'That would be the challenge for the club – what level (of fee would we sell for)? For any player, not just Dom.
'You saw Amadou (Onana) leaving us (for £50m). There was a level where they must think, 'Right, that's it, it's got to be done'. That is the current situation of the club. They do need to balance the finances better. We have done a lot of work with that since I've been here.'
Dyche whose contract is up in the summer, is known to push his players' resilience to the extreme
Dyche, whose own contract is up in the summer, pushed his troops last week with his infamous 'Gaffer's Day', a pre-season afternoon where players' resilience is pushed to the extreme. This year, Dyche surprised them with two in a week. He has also put on triple-sessions.
There is a picture of a player – blurred out, thankfully – struggling on his haunches while Dyche has a smirk as wide as the Mersey. Clearly, it works: Everton ran more in matches than any current Premier League club last season.
They also topped the table for carbon footprint, in pre-season at least, with the Toffees covering a league-low 472 miles for travel in pre-season – 13 of 20 clubs went to the United States or Asia. It has left them looking in relatively fit shape heading into Goodison Park's send-off.